Thank you for participating in the October giveaway. We were so blessed by your entries. We have a gift for everyone who entered. I would like you all to have a copy of my workshop and instructions for “Making Your Own Holiday Recipe Notebook,” so just contact us at pubshisher@remembrancepress.com, let us know you left a comment and request your copy of the “recipe workshop” and we will email it to you.
The Girlhood Home Companion 2009 Christmas Issue and the “Make Your Own Holiday Recipe Notebook” workshop on audio CD with Jill Novak are on the way to each of our winners!
The winners are Angela, Kim, Robin, Jen and Mandy.
They said,
“Although baking cookies for Christmas is a fairly common practice in many households, we have a different spin on the tradition. Years ago, I acquired a delicious sugar cookie recipe that became a hit with our family and friends. So, now at every Christmas, my husband, daughters and I set aside time to make cut-out cookies. We are a fairly artistic family & have developed our own art in decorating the cookies… they result in a beautiful product & not one is the same. (Most people hesitate to eat them because they enjoy looking at them.) This year, we plan to make Thanksgiving cookies and deliver them to all of our neighbors and my husbands’ co-workers with a note of giving thanks for them. Should be fun!” – Angela
“As a child, my grandmother found a recipe for Pumpkin Swirls. This quickly became a fall favorite and to this day my mom and I make them. When our children were preschool age, we started the tradition of taking cookies to the local fireman that were working on Christmas Day. We were and are still amazed at how thankful they are that we would take time to visit them and with treats! The kids get excited and every year we try to make it to more and more firehouses. Last year we were able to spend Christmas with my parents and we included them in the tradition. It brought tears to my mom’s eyes to see the excitement of the kids and the thankfulness of the firemen!” – Kim
“For a short time we thought that there weren’t going to be any more Thanksgiving Traditions for our family. My mother had gotten tired of the routine not being an enthusiastic cook herself and my mother-in-law was going through some major crises at the same time. I began to think that perhaps Thanksgiving was becoming a thing of the past.
As I was thinking about putting up the decorations for Christmas a little early, my sweet son Adam came into the room. He was probably about five at the time. He cuddled up close and whispered to me, “Mama, aren’t we ever going to have a feast again.”
It broke my heart and I suddenly realized that although the matriarchs of a family usually like to continue traditions for the family that my time had suddenly come!
I immediately began to plan, to bake and to invite! We told all of our family on both sides that we would be having Thanksgiving at our home and that they were all welcome. I made a few dishes that were always on the table in my home growing up, but I also made my mother-in-law’s dressing and a few new dishes as well!
We have had Thanksgiving in our home with any and all invited for fourteen years now and I wouldn’t trade with anyone for the world.
A traditional pie in our home growing up came from my grandmother who never followed a recipe in her life! But to make it simple for everyone, I will just say that you can substitute butternut squash for pumpkin in any of your favorite recipes. It will come out a beautiful golden color and taste a little milder than pumpkin.” – Robin
“Every year when I was a kid my Mom and I made cookie trays for our neighbors. We spent weeks making different types of cookies and cinnamon rolls. This is one of my fondest memories as a child. Then bundling up and heading out to deliver these goodies.” – Jen
“When our family was still all at home and young, I taught them each how to make 1 item for Thanksgiving. So now when they come home with their own families for our “gathering” –they prepare that dish. My oldest does creamed onions, then there is the cranberry sweet potato rolls, frozen cranberry tip tops for appetizer, pumpkin pies, apple pies, creamed corn bake. I take care of the Turkey, dressing, and gravy. Because we have nine children, with the work divided it isn’t hard to put Thanksgiving Dinner on the table. We still have a few at home and each one has their specialty. Coming home for Thanksgiving is special for us all.
We always start our morning with a special cranberry sweet bread twist, pumpkin dip and a fruit tray. While we sample this traditional breakfast, we read the scriptures and speak of the ways the Lord has worked in our lives since the previous year. We give Him thanks and praise early…It is because of Him that we can be thankful.” – Mandy
Angela, Kim, Robin, Jen and Mandy will each receive The Girlhood Home Companion 2009 Christmas Issue and the “Make Your Own Holiday Recipe Notebook” workshop on audio CD with Jill Novak
Blessings,
Jill and Eric Novak