Christmas Archives - Page 9 of 26 - Feathers in Our Nest

Real Food Eggnog Recipe

December 17, 2012 by Aliesha

Winner selected: Congratulations, Hillary!

This recipe is from a new eBook I have been enjoying this holiday season. It’s called Festive Traditions: A Real Food Guide to the Holidays. You’ll love the whole food remakes of classic dips, beverages, side dishes, and desserts. I am very excited to make some more of these recipes for our family’s Christmas dinner (and breakfast… can’t wait to try the Soaked Oatmeal Pecan Waffles!).

You are sure to find many new recipes to add to your holiday arsenal! (Be sure to scroll to the end of this post for a great giveaway and coupon code!)

I was SUPER excited to try the Pastured Eggnog recipe, and I have permission to share it with you today!

This is hands-down the BEST eggnog I’ve ever tasted! You’ll never go back to store-bought eggnog after you’ve tried this one. (Not to mention, store-bought eggnog has tons of yucky stuff in it… HFCS and the like…)

Pastured Eggnog
from Festive Traditions

3 egg yolks, pastured, from a source you trust
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 tsp. sea salt (I like Real Salt)
1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used homemade)
2 cups raw milk (whole pasteurized may be substituted if you don’t have raw)
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup raw cream (or organic heavy whipping cream)
nutmeg for garnish (optional)

In a double boiler over medium heat, whisk together first six ingredients until the mixture thickens (you’ll want it to coat the back of a spoon). Set mixture aside.

In a stand mixer, beat the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into egg mixture gently.

You can serve it warm right away, or you can chill it. (I love it both ways, but I prefer it chilled.)

Pour into mugs or glasses and garnish with a sprinkle of nutmeg (optional).

Makes 4 servings

Enjoy!

Want to try other amazing recipes like this? Be sure to grab a copy of Festive Traditions!

Use coupon code FEATHERS25 to score Festive Traditions for 25% off! (Expires 12/27/12)

Today I am very excited… I get to give away one copy of Festive Traditions: A Real Food Guide to the Holidays! (Open internationally to anyone with an email address!)

To enter: Leave a comment telling me what recipe from Festive Traditions you would most like to make! (View the Table of Contents)
*Please make sure to leave a valid email address in your comment if your profile is not linked to one.

Enter by 11:59 EST on 12/21/12. Winner will be emailed on 12/22/12 and then announced at the top of this post.

Winner selected: Congratulations, Hillary!

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Keeping Christmas Simple & Jesus-Centered

December 13, 2012 by Aliesha

Tad and I knew even before we had children that we wanted Christmas to be Jesus-centered and we wanted our children to have an understanding at a young age that Christmas is about giving.

We don’t do Santa (that’s a topic for another time) or Elf on the Shelf. We don’t want anything like that to distract from celebrating Jesus’ birth! We still make the Christmas season a joyous, special time.

Our family does simple gifts, too. We give the girls three gifts: something to read, something to wear, and something to play with (as well as pajamas on Christmas eve and stockings on Christmas morning).

We are teaching the girls traditional Christmas carols, like Joy to the World, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Away in a Manger, Silent Night, and O Little Town of Bethlehem. We are planning on going caroling at a nursing home and to shut-ins from our church closer to Christmas.

When we talk about Christmas, I ask Vera what we are celebrating. She responds with either, “Baby Jesus!” or “Jesus’ birthday!” She’s learning to say “Merry Christmas!” (Right now it’s coming out, “Merry Chris-chris!”)

We have been doing Advent using a kit that my mom made for us. It’s a set of magnetic nativity figures (a new one to open every day) and portions of Luke 2 to read each day. Vera looks forward to “Avend,” as she says it, every day. Vera loves all of the animals and playing with the magnets on the fridge. She knows what a stable is and she’ll tell you that a manger is a place where the donkey eats.

We have a plastic nativity set that the girls love to play with. Vera carries the pieces throughout the house and can identify many of them.

Vera and Cordelia have a little tree in their room with lights and small jingle bell ornaments. Vera has also been bringing home lots of ornaments from church that she made in Sunday School and AWANA.

The chalkboard in the kitchen reminds us of the reason for the season.

A stack of red and green towels adds color to a corner of the kitchen.

Our tree is simply decorated with meaningful ornaments.

Our mantle is simple this year, with the focus being a ceramic nativity set my grandmother gave me. Vera was excited to see it when I first put it up.

We have been reading Christmas books with Vera and Cordelia. These two were given to the girls by Grammy and MiMi.

How do you help your children understand the true meaning of Christmas?

Our Christmas Tree

December 10, 2012 by Aliesha

Since we’ve been married, Tad has been singing the praises of a real Christmas tree. My family had an artificial tree for most of my life, so Tad and I gave that a shot for our first three Christmases (yes, this is our fourth Christmas together). This year, I wanted to get a real tree since I knew Tad would love it. I also thought Vera would enjoy helping pick one out.

We got our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving and finally got the lights and decorations on it the next weekend.

(On a side note: when we tied the tree to the roof of our van, Vera said, “It’s gonna fall off!” Fortunately, it didn’t.)

I ended up doing most of the decorating since Vera got bored after putting on 4 ornaments and Tad had to keep Cordelia from eating pine needles.

Both of our girls love it just the right amount: they aren’t terrified of it, but they aren’t super-touchy or into removing all of the ornaments. Occasionally Cordelia will pull one off, but all of the low-hanging ornaments are not breakable.

I really love how it looks (and smells)!