Santa is off! He’s very excited to come visit all of you! He wanted me to share some of his favorite moments from this season. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
The Santa Blog
Archive for December, 2013
Ho-ho-ho! Ha-ha-ha! Santa’s Funniest Jokes!
Santa told me some side splitting jokes the other night over a cup of hot chocolate, and I just would like to share the cheer and joy with you!
1. What do snowmen eat for breakfast? – Snowflakes!
2. What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? – Frostbite
3. What’s red and white and gives presents to good little fish on Christmas? – Sandy Claws
4. What’s the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the ordinary alphabet? – The Christmas alphabet has NOEL!
Tell these to your family to get them rolling! Santa is a funny guy, and he’s looking forward to visiting you! His spirits are high, he is as jolly as can be, looking forward to Christmas Day!
Peppy Peppermint Bark
This Peppermint Bark will blow any guest away! With the smooth, chocolate combined with the bite of the peppermint, and topped with the pretty candies, how could anyone turn this down? This recipe is simple and is complete with a delicious outcome!
Peppermint Bark
Ingredients:
8 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate
8 oz White Chocolate
2 tsp Canola Oil
1/2 tsp Peppermint Extract
25 crushed Peppermint candies
Directions:
Prepare a cookie sheet. Grease it and then layer with wax paper.
Using a double boiler, melt semi-sweet chocolate and 1 tsp of canola oil together. Scrapping the sides and folding continuously for an even melt.
Remove from heat and add 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract, stir in.
Pour melted chocolate onto prepared cookie sheet. Spread it thin and evenly.
Put into the refrigerator for 1 hour for it to harden.
Using a double boiler again, melt white chocolate and 1 tsp of canola oil together. Scrapping the sides and folding continuously for an even melt.
Remove from heat and add 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract, stir in.
Pour on top of the hardened semi-sweet chocolate, spreading thin and evenly covering all the dark chocolate below.
Now sprinkle crushed candies on top of the melted white chocolate and press gently into the top.
Put back into the fridge for 1 hour, to harden.
Package up for treat bags to take to school or the office! Or just enjoy with cocoa by the tree!
Holiday Treats: Christmas Crunchies
These Christmas Crunchies are such a delectable treat! Everyone always seems apprehensive of these at first because they are a little odd looking, but they are so delicious! Sweet, salty, and crunchy!
Ingredients:
1 (12 oz) package of butterscotch chips
2 heaping tablespoons of peanut butter
1 small package (12 oz) of fried chow mien noodles
(The golden treats)
Directions:
Place chips and peanut butter in a saucepan and melt over very low heat, stirring constantly so not to burn.
Once it is melted through, take it off the heat and add the fried chow mien noodles.
Gently fold to coat all the noodles in the butterscotch mixture.
Place wax paper over your counter and begin spooning the mixture onto the wax paper. Make small balls, the size of small cookies. Allow to cool for 1 hour.
Enjoy!
A Christmas Classic: Decadent Fudge
Christmas always reminds me of rich delicious treats that are passed around at every gathering, but my favorite is deep, rich fudge! Smooth, thick and creamy. Here’s a recipe that only takes a pan and a spoon!
Ingredients:
24 oz of good semi-sweet chocolate
1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
1/4 butter
Optional – if you desire any flavorings or nuts you can add them in, I would suggest a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half of any extract and/or 1 cup of nuts
Photo from Mariah Cooking – Pinned by Kayleigh Supernois
Directions:
Prepare a 8×8 pan, grease and then line with wax paper.
In a double boiler melt the chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and butter.
Stir constantly, gently folding from the bottom, just until melted through. You do not want to over cook or burn.
Remove from heat.
If you wish to do so, this would be the time to add extract or nuts, mix throughly.
Pour into prepared pan and smooth evenly.
Cover and put into the fridge to chill and set, about 2 hours.
Cut and enjoy!
A Very Merry Prague Christmas
Veselé Vánoce! This is “Merry Christmas” in Czech. In the Czech Republic, Christmas is celebrated a little differently with the main celebration being dinner on Christmas Eve. An old tradition is to fast before the feast in hopes to see a vision of “the golden pig” before the meal; this means good luck! Another important superstition of Christmas Eve dinner, which demonstrates the power of family and togetherness, is that no one can get up during the meal, this will bring bad luck and death to the family, instead everyone rises simultaneously. Many families after dinner, proceed to their church and participate in midnight mass.
There are different celebrations all around the world, what are your family traditions?
Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Tree History
The history of our beloved Christmas Tree began with our ancient ancestors. Many ancient people began decorating their homes with evergreen boughs, believing that it kept out witches, evil spirits, and illness. Typically the boughs were hung above entry ways and windows. Other communities used these boughs as decoration symbolizing the festivities, for example the Romans celebrated the winter solstice as a sign that there would soon be green, abundant crops growing in the farms. To mark this occasion the Romans used the evergreens as a symbol and decoration. Another group, known as the Celts, would decorate their homes in this fashion, believing it to be a symbol of everlasting life.
As for the Christmas Tree we know today, this tradition was started in Germany. Devout Christians would bring trees into their homes and decorate them. It is said that the Protestant Reformer of the 16th, Martin Luther, is the one who began the tradition of lighting the tree. The story says that Martin Luther, walking home one winter evening, looked up and was breath-taken by the stars shining through the surrounding evergreens. He wanted to recreated the scene, so the moment he got home he began wiring candles to the Christmas Tree.
For awhile, the idea of a tree decorated inside someone’s house was very odd. The Americans found the tree tradition very odd of the German settlers of Pennsylvania. Then, in 1846, the German Prince Albert and his wife Queen Victoria were illustrated in London News standing around their household Christmas Tree. Due to the high acceptance of the Queen, it immediately became fashionable throughout England and the Eastern Coast of America to have a Christmas Tree.
Christmas Time Activity in Seattle
If you want to treat your family this year to some fantastic live performances around the area, I have a diverse yet family-friendly list of theatre performances! Whether you like dance, musicals, drama, or watching rare talents, I know you’ll be able to find something delightful on this list!
Seattle’s favorite holiday performance would have to be The Nutcracker. Presenting Stowell and Sendak’s spin off of the ever classic Tchaikovsky ballet. Featuring over 200 dancers, gigantic moving sets, and as always, fabulous costumes! It is sure to be an enchanting night for all!
Playing at Seattle’s McCaw Hall, matinee times available. Running through December 29th.
The 5th Avenue Theatre is proud to have Oliver! as part of their Christmas season! This production is special because it features a cast of local actors! So come on down, share the magic of a downtown holiday experience, and come see your local talent performing in a Broadway show!
Playing at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, matinee times available. Running through December 29th.
Photo from th00.deviantart.net/ – Pinned by Clay Stewart
This year, the Paramount Theatre is treating us to three nights only for Cirque Dreams: Holidaze. Watch in awe as your favorite holiday characters come to life and perform rare talents! Set to your favorite holiday tunes, with fantastic sparkling costumes, how could you leave not satisfied?
Playing at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre for 3 nights only, December 20th – 22nd!
Photo from floridatheatre.com/ – Pinned by Florida Theatre
With so much to do in just our area, everyone’s holiday will be spectacular!
No One Can Beat Mrs. Claus’ Drinking Chocolate!
There is no way anyone can beat Mrs. Claus’s drinking chocolate! Three times a day, she provides us, and the big man, with her rich and decadent drinking chocolate. It helps to keep us elves going with a spark! Especially this time of year, getting busy before the big day! Recently I took a trip down to your neck of the woods (the northwest) and had a wonderful experience trying all the exceptional boutique chocolate shops’ variations of hot chocolate! Here’s a list of my top 3 favorites:
Located in 3 places, one location right across from Santa’s Cabin in U-Village, each place hand-crafting each cup of hot chocolate. It is rich, frothy, and so good with their whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top! Fran’s doesn’t only specialize in hot chocolate, indulge in their most famous Smoked Sea Salt Caramels when you’re there too! They are great to eat, take home, and make fabulous gifts!
This wonderful, cozy gem of a chocolate shop is located in between the bustling neighborhoods of Ballard and Phinney Ridge. They have numerous options of drinking chocolate, some with spice and some with nice, others have different amounts of cocoa, and they also have take-home packaging!
This chocolate shop has only a few different styles of drinking chocolate, and a few syrups for flavor, but excellently done! The secret I found here is to ask for all bittersweet, it is so incredibly delicious! And their whip cream has just the slightest almond flavor, yum yum! So enjoy their cozy atmosphere, and take a look at all the creative truffles they sell! Maybe try one.
Make a day out of trying one (or all) of these locations, walk around the unique neighborhoods they are located in. Check out the surrounding shops for one-of-a-kind gifts this year, or go at night and walk through the neighborhoods to admire the Christmas lights.
(Image Courtesy of Pintrest – Ana Facio)
