My husband was happy to help clean out the scraps in the pan! That’s okay with me – he also washed up my dirty dishes. (I love a man with dishpan hands!)

This next recipe makes four Cream Cheese Coffee Cakes. They’re more breads than they are cakes, but that’s what they’re called. People will think you fussed a bunch, but because you make the dough the night before and let it sit overnight in the fridge it splits up the process. Then next day you take the dough out, knead it, divide it, fill it with the cream cheese mixture and let it rise. After it bakes you drizzle the confectionery sugar glaze and almonds on it. It’s very good and makes lots – something I like in a recipe.

I’m also making Sour Dough Bread as a gift for a group of people. My recipe makes up two loaves at a time. If you’ve never used a sour dough starter you’re missing out on the easiest way to make homemade bread! It can be hard to get your own starter going…I got mine from a friend over 20 years ago! It’s easy to maintain and makes delicious bread and cinnamon rolls. I won’t share that recipe today, but if you’re interested leave me a note and I’ll be happy to post it.

The last thing that I baked in my kitchen were these Chocolate cake rolls with Cream Roulade and a Chocolate Mint Sauce. It sounds very fancy and difficult, but I’m telling you this recipe is very simple and looks elegant and tastes even better! You use a cake mix to make the rolls and it makes two! I took one to our choir dinner on Saturday and will serve the other one at our Sunday school’s class party. The cake is light, the filling is creamy and the chocolate sauce is heavenly!

What’s baking in your kitchen this week? I’d love to hear!

Today’s post is another entry from my friend, Vickie Stykes. Here she’ll share a great gift idea, as well as something that will make your own home smell like Christmas!

I love the smells of Christmas. The smell of freshly baked “holiday sweet treats”, homemade bread, cinnamon, fruits, scented candles, a clean house, fresh sheets made ready for guests and the air after a new snowfall. Even though we have many potpourri options in the stores, this homemade potpourri brings back the old-fashioned days of Christmas. Simmering on top your kitchen stove or wood burning stove or on a side burner this blend of fruits and spices will bring a special holiday aroma to your home. May your home be filled with holiday guests, days of family times with fun and laughter and making memories for the years to come. –Vickie Stykes

Christmas Fragrance Simmering Potpourri

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and place in a simmer stove pot or in a crock pot. Cover with hot water, turn on high to bubbly, then on low to enjoy simmering scent. May be placed in refrigerator and reused several times. Just add more ingredients if scent loses aroma.

Have a great weekend. See you in church Sunday! –Denise

I love, love, love all kinds of baking. At Christmastime I enjoy the recipes that take patience, like sugar cookies and jam shortbreads. The sugar cookie dough has to be placed in the fridge for an hour before rolling them out. Then there’s the time it takes to cut them out, sprinkle them with the colored sugars, bake them, and then perhaps even finish with confectionery icing. However, after a couple of recipes like that that are long and tedious, I’m tired. The kitchen is hot, and I begin looking for a delicious cookie or candy that’s a snap to make.

There is something about family traditions that not only makes for special memories, but also bonds family members together. This is “their” menu, “their” way to celebrate. It connects them in blood and heart. Someone said, “Family traditions counter alienation and confusion. They help us define who we are; they provide something steady, reliable and safe in a confusing world.”

• Serve the same menu for Christmas brunch, perhaps a coffee cake and special beverage.
• Read the Christmas story from Luke before opening presents.
• Go caroling together in your neighborhood on Christmas Eve.
• Take a family picture in the same spot in your home every year on Christmas morning.
• Put the same items in the stockings each year – an orange, Whitman’s sampler box, a candy cane, etc.
• Listen to the same music while decorating the tree or having Christmas dinner

Our Twelve Days of Christmas starts this Saturday! Hmmmm, what should I do to make it special since it’s our first year as Empty Nesters? Any suggestions?

What family traditions does your family observe at Christmas?

Good food is truly a gift from our God. It’s a blessing to be able to use good ingredients and fix a meal for your family and friends, isn’t it? Cooking is one way we can show our family how much we care for them. They need good meals when they’re well, but they especially need nourishing meals then they’re sick. It’s also a nice gesture to serve it in a special way if they’re bedridden – perhaps on a pretty tray with nice linens, special dishes and a flower in a small vase.

I’ve had a sick hubby for a couple of weeks. What started out as “sinus problems” turned to bronchitis, then to walking pneumonia. Poor guy! He’s had a good appetite during his illness, but has been more particular about what he’s wanted to eat. He’s been hungry for “comfort foods.” So for Sunday dinner yesterday, rather than opting for chicken soup, I planned a menu of Homestyle Chicken Bake. This is a Southern Living recipe I found a few years back that replaced my old chicken and rice recipe. It’s substantial because it has chicken, rice and carrots in the dish. A salad and bread are all that’s needed to make this a full meal.

Here’s the recipe:

Homestyle Chicken Bake

1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 cup sliced celery
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 tbl. butter or marg., melted
2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
small bag of baby carrots
6 chicken breast halves (could also use dark meat or a cut up fryer)
1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
2/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
paprika

Cook rice according to package directions. Combine rice and next 7 ingredients; mix well. Spoon into a lightly greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish; top with chicken breasts.

Combine soup, sour cream, and milk; spoon mixture over chicken breasts. Sprinkle paprika over top. Bake, covered at 350 degrees for 1 hour. For a Sunday after church meal, I put it in the oven at 280 degrees when I leave for Sunday school.

What do you do or make when you have someone sick at your house?