Christmas Tea

Hello my friends! I am so thankful for a family that inspires me to be the best that I can, and friends that I find amazing. I have had such a fun Christmas time and I thought I would share some of my favorite moments so far:

1. Seeing Tangled 3D with my mother

2. Having a impromptu sleepover with my beautiful friend. A Nertz Tournament with Dayna and Rob. Watching the beautiful lunar Eclipse elapse over the hours.

3. Making homemade Coconut Butternut Squash soup with Dayna and Emily!

4. Getting creative with my Christmas gifts to my friends and family

5. Listening to Christmas music

6. Baking Christmas cookies with my mom and sister

7. Drinking lots of Christmas tea, cocoa, and coffee

8. Singing in the Christmas Eve Church service

9. Working on the Christmas puzzle while randomly breaking out in song

10. Lots of sparkly Christmas lights

11. Enjoying spending Christmas with a sister from afar

Having my whole family around inspired me to spend most of last week completing items on my Winter Break Bucket List! I also tried to take pictures of the items I checked off the list:

I made homemade soup with Dayna last Thursday! It was a delicious pot of Coconut Butternut Squash Soup. The whole evening just warmed my soul. I am so thankful to be able to spend time with good friends.

I also baked some delicious Christmas treats! Peppermint Bark, PB&J Cookies, and Christmas Tea! I thought it might be fun to attach the recipes and pictures of some of the treats I made! :)

Peppermint Bark Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 12 oz. of high-quality white chocolate 
• 5 regular sized candy canes, crushed up
• 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract

METHOD

1 Break up peppermint candy into little pieces. Melt the chocolate according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once melted, add the peppermint extract and stir.

2 Pour the melted chocolate out onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and spread out with a spatula or wooden spoon. Sprinkle the peppermint candy chunks on to the chocolate and gently press them in with yours hands.

3 Place in the freezer for 5 minutes or until hardened. Break into pieces and serve or store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Peanut Butter Gluten-Free Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Peanut butter
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• Raspberry, Grape, or Strawberry Jam

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2 Combine the sugar, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla in a bowl.

3 Take a small amount of dough and form into a golfball-sized ball.

4 Place ball on cookie sheet and press thumb into the cookie.

5 Place a small amount of jam on the cookie.

6 Repeat steps, 3, 4, and 5 until all the dough is gone.

7 Place cookie sheet in the the oven and cook for 10 minutes.

Finally, I made some delicious Christmas Tea! I got this (secret) recipe from my sister's fiance's family cookbook!

Here it is steeping and getting delicious!

...And the final product!

The upcoming week is sure to be filled with great memories, good friends, and lots of happy moments that I am excited to share with you! I would love to hear some of your favorite Christmas moments.

Happy Holidays!