Christmas in July...sort of

Our family just came home from celebrating Christmas with family.

On the beach.

In December. (yeah, I know that's when Christmas usually is...just go with me here).

That was a huge first for us. I believe it was my first winter trip to the beach and for sure was the first time our family was on the beach for Christmas. It was rather strange and surreal. I mean, I am from Kansas. Growing up, the closest ocean was hundreds of miles away. I did not even SEE the Atlantic Ocean until I was in college. So, Christmas on the beach...weird. Palm trees decorated with Christmas lights.

Our family (Wayne's side) is a bit spread out, to say the least, so it has been a while since we have been able to get together to celebrate a holiday. So, back in July, we started planning for Christmas. We decided to head to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as it was as good a place as any. We had family there from from Indiana, Florida, Arkansas and North Carolina (and, of course, Virginia). We stayed in a wonderful, luxurious (and thankfully, cheap, due to the off-season pricing) resort that was on the beach.

We were on the 8th floor and this is the view from our room.

The kids had fun even if the water was a little cold.

Uncle Drew and Aunt Lena brought a metal detector they had bought from a friend for just $3.00. They took it to the beach and I watched as the kids found a penny. I said "Well, now your metal detector only cost $2.99." Drew said "Actually, now it cost $3.01." (Figure that one out)

Santa even found us (or at least the kids stockings hanging on the closet doors), so we had some fun opening gifts on Christmas morning.

We were only missing one sister, Susan, from Wayne's family. It turned out to be a really fun week, even though it didn't really feel like Christmas. The trade-off was being able to be with family and reconnect while soaking up some rays.

On the beach.

For Christmas.

In December.

Or was it July?

Peppernuts...Part II An Update

So, yesterday when I wrote about how much I hate cutting the peppernuts I should have mentioned that last year a friend of mine came over to help us make peppernuts (her first time, I think).

This is significant because last fall was a difficult time for our family. Our baby son, Jedrek, had been diagnosed with liver cancer (hepatoblastoma) and had undergone chemotherapy and surgery. When the Christmas season came around he had just finished treatment. In fact, the day before last year's peppernuts were made we had been to the hospital for Jedrek's central line (a line that is placed directly into a vein by the heart and is used to draw blood and deliver medications) to be removed. This was a big landmark in the treatment process, yet we were still cautious in many ways.

Anyway, I was explaining to my friend how important it was to cut the peppernuts small. It took a few tries and examples for her to understand my definition of the word "small." As she got into it, though, she commented how it was almost "meditative" work to be so detailed with cookie making. At the time I just smiled...she didn't have a nursing 7 month old demanding her attention. Yesterday I just laughed thinking about how "non-mediative" it was to try to cut sticky peppernuts with 2 kids and a husband helping, fighting, and making noise while the now 19 month old ran around finding pencils and pens and things to draw on (like walls, furniture, my jeans, etc).

Here is a tray of last year's peppernuts:

Fast forward to today. It was a strange-weather day as it started out warm and got colder and more rainy as the day progressed. By 2:30 this afternoon it was dark and looked like evening had come. I had just finished my afternoon coffee and snack and put down my book, trying to decide what project I had energy for next. My 1 and 5 year old were asleep and my 9 year old was playing quietly in his room. I had mixed up some peppernut dough that morning that was in the fridge, so I decided I could at least cut a couple of trays worth while it was so quiet.

Well, I don't know what it was...the weather, the quiet house, the smells, or the fact that I had mixed up the only peppernut recipe that I LOVE and no one else in my family cares for, but I think I reached that "meditative" state. For a few minutes. It was peaceful, at least, and the cookie dough was not very sticky. So I take back what I said yesterday about "hating" the cutting part. I guess it just takes the right atmosphere...and the right dough!

Before I knew it, my loving husband was home from work and I had finished the peppernuts...an entire gallon...by myself!

Now on to the eating!

Peppernuts...a Family Tradition

The Christmas season is a great time for me to think about all the "traditional" family activities I grew up with.

Here is one that we do every year...peppernuts. These are little, tiny, miniscule cookies that come from my Russian-Mennonite background. There are several recipes to use, some have nuts, some don't, some have anise flavoring, some don't, some are made to be hard and some are made to be soft. The only truly important thing is that they are all made to be SMALL. The smaller, the better. Sometimes so small that you can hardly see them on the tray. I am not kidding!

The trouble with this is that it is not something I enjoy. I do enjoy mixing the dough, rolling out the "snakes" for cutting, and taking the cookies off the trays after they are baked. However, I DO NOT like to cut them. They stick to the knife, stick to the cutting board, stick to my fingers, you get the idea.

Luckily, this year we had 4 cutters in our family (yes, we decided Jedrek needed to wait another year to use a knife...call us overprotective), so the process went much faster.

These cookies are actually MONSTROUS when compared my family's normal expectations. I am using the "I have a 1 year old who pulls at my legs anytime I am cooking and not paying enough attention to him" excuse this year.Still, after all was said and done this was all that we had. (I burned 2 batches that had to be thrown away and I froze some for later...don't tell my family because they don't know)

All of the cookies you see in this jar, however, are already gone...

One year when Wayne and I were dating, we, along with my dad, made a 5 gallon bucket full of peppernuts. Yes, that's right, a 5 gallon bucket full of teeny, tiny, miniscule cookies.

The good thing is that you can eat a dozen (or two or three) without feeling guilty!