We all have some sort of Holiday Tradition during the month of December, so I asked a few of my friends to share with you their Holiday Traditions and a book.
So get cozy by the fire, grab a cup of coco and get ready to read some amazing traditions and some fantastic recommendations for the holidays.
Holiday Tradition
I thought I would go a little Traditional and Non-traditional for my post, Traditional being the Holiday Tradition and Non-traditional with the book.
One of my favorite things about this time of year is all the smells…pine, cinnamon, cookies, winter nights and eggnog. My Holiday Tradition started even before I was born. My family is of Italian descent, on both my Mom and Dad’s side, everyone is Italian, so I grew up with all the Josephs, Marcos, Tonys and Michaels. We were always about food, Thanksgiving we can feed an army and Christmas Eve is the 7 fishes followed by more eating on Christmas. Italian’s love to cook but what I think (at least my family) they do best is baking. So even before I was born in December my great grandmother would get her 8 kids together and bake tons of cookies which was passed on to my grandmother and that was passed on to my mom and her sisters. I remember being little and watching my great-grandmother sit at the end of the table while my grandmother (Nanny) and my mom made the dough. She would yell at them in Italian to mix the dough more. She was a bit of a cookie tyrant and little Italian dictator of cookies. As the years passed my mom now takes over all the cookie making and every year I help her.
When I was home it would be a two day cooking making extravaganza and even now I help her but only one day and Julia has taken over helping too. Like me when I was little she loves to decorate the cookies. My sister comes over to help, my husband is a taste tester and this is something we do every year. When my mom doesn’t want to do it anymore I would assume it would be my turn to take over and I will happily except the task since I love helping her and one year actually got to make some of the stuff because she wasn’t feeling well. Now when I say cookies I don’t mean like a dozen or two, what I mean by making cookies is she makes about 6 dozen or enough to fill a full metal tray. The cookies we make? Well here is a full list and I am sure I might miss one or two
- Thumbprints with the Jam or Nutella in the middle with or without nuts
- Holiday Cut Out cookies
- Press Cookies (with a press machine that makes designs)
- Chocolate Chip Lumps (I have no idea what they are called by they are delicious)
- Those Powdered Balls in the picture above, forget that name too 🙂
- Anisette Cookies
- Biscotti Cookies (two loaves, plain and almond)
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Italian Struffoli with Honey (these are my favorite but a pain to make)
I might be leaving a few out and she has cute a few from her list in the last couple of year. My favorites was always these Nut Cups she made but they take a long time to make and can be time consuming, I have wanted to take those over myself and I might since they are so yummy!
This is a holiday tradition I hope to pass on to my kids once my mom passes it on to me. I love helping her bake and it wouldn’t be Christmas without the smell of freshly baked Christmas Cookies! 🙂
The Book
I am going a bit non-traditional with my book. I have to admit this one was a bit scary but a totally awesome read for the holidays and by totally awesome, I mean, pack away the tree and all the decorations and hide in a safe secure spot. I am surprised that after reading a few horror Christmas stories it still gets me in a pretty good Christmas Mood. A little jumpy yes but still very festive. 😉
A Christmas Horror Story
by Sebastian Gregory
ebook, 160 pages
Published December 8th 2014 by Carina (first published January 1st 2014)
On the night before Christmas, lock the doors to the house…
Forget the jolly old man in his red, big-buttoned suit. Because another creature is up on the roof, preparing for his annual visit to little children everywhere.
With a belt of knives round his waist, a writhing bag on his back and a Santa-sized appetite, he’s a little…different to the St Nick you might be expecting.
And you can leave out all the carrots and mince pies you like…but it’s you he’s after.
A horrid Christmas to all, and a terrible night.
Every white Christmas has a dark side. Don’t miss A Christmas Horror Story, the gruesomely festive new story from Sebastian Gregory.
I might be a little scared of Christmas now but it had 160 pages of wow, I couldn’t put this book down. The main Characters are lovable, I needed to find out what happened to Katy, Jake and Emily at all times. I needed them to be ok and even as the book was coming to the end I was still a nervous wreck. This book is amazing, creepy, fantastic and horrifying all rolled in one. I loved Sebastian Gregory’s writing style and he can tell a scary story pretty well that my heart was beating a lot faster then it should and I had to stop reading this at night before bed.
Looking for a fun cheerful Christmas book, this is not it, just remember think happy thoughts when you read it, no scary Santa Clauses or Weihnachtsmann or Der Kinderfresser just HAPPY Christmas thoughts…damn it!!!
About the Guest
That would be me 🙂 and most of you know me already. If not take a look at the author box below!
Thank you for stopping by to check out today’s Holiday Tradition and Book
Have a great day!
Happy Holidays!
Omg, we used to make thumbprints, too. I haven’t made them in years. And the powdered balls, we call those snowballs. So nommy!! 🙂 The thing my mom made every year was Pineapple Bars. Omg…*drools* I’ve made them a few times since I moved to NC but for some reason I can’t find pineapple pie filling and pineapple preserves down here. My mom has sent some to me and those are the times I’ve made them. I haven’t checked the stores recently though. I should see if they have those ingedients now. Because now I’m wanting them. lol
I think those are called Pecan Balls they are one of my favorites.
Pineapple Bars sound yummy but I can’t eat pineapple 🙁 It makes my tummy hurt like I am dying! 🙂
Great tradition, we never really had any traditions growing up beside just decorating a tree. I really need to try that book. 🙂
It’s a good book, very creepy, he writes some weird stuff but it’s fantastic.
Great tradition, I love the smell of Christmas cookies too. You guys go all out! Chocolate chip lumps- that sounds awesome. Quite the spread. 🙂
My mom gives them away plus her sisters make cookies too which were also my grandmothers recipe. My absolute favorite used to be sesame cookies but no one makes them anymore. Might be something I will do next year since I really miss those. – See more at: https://www.becausereading.com/holiday-tradition-and-a-book-guest-post-8/#comment-16145