This list of tried and true recipes always make our holiday tables. Check out these recipes, and find some new delicious holiday traditions for your family!
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When the Animals Talk
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Have you heard the one about farm animals talking at midnight? I hadn’t heard about it until I moved to Indiana. And since we have farm animals right at our house, it’s one that I hear often now.
The story goes that Jesus was born exactly at midnight on Christmas Eve. (Christmas Day? Anyway, right at midnight.) And right then, for a few minutes, the animals could talk to welcome Jesus into the world. Depending on which version of the story you hear, the animals either lost their voices by the time the shepherds came, or the animals went out into the streets to tell everyone that Jesus was born.
Well, I have to say that I have never heard animals talk – at midnight on Christmas Eve or any other time!
I also have to admit that I have never gone out to the barn to listen at midnight on Christmas Eve, either. I’m usually up – I’m a night owl and a procrastinator, which means that I’m often still wrapping presents then! But it’s cold on Christmas Eve, and the last thing I want to do is head out to the barn!
Our animals do tell us lots of things, they just do it without words. The cows in that picture are saying that they like the snow – even though they have a warm barn where they can go and rest, they choose to stay outside and use the snow as a blanket. Silly girls!
They also let us know – very loudly – if the water has frozen or if they think they don’t have enough hay left. We check the water every day, but sometimes it freezes up overnight. The girls will let us know if we don’t get out there fast enough to suit them!
Holiday Traditions
Once our animals are taken care of, it’s time to take care of our families! Thanksgiving is a pretty big deal for our family, so we have a more relaxed approach to Christmas. We gather on Christmas Eve for lasagna, garlic bread, and my favorite pumpkin pie. Then we head out to midnight mass together.
Our Christmas morning traditions have changed a bit since our son was born. Now we stay at home and open presents for a little while (fueled by plenty of coffee). We have our traditional Breakfast Casserole for brunch with my husband’s parents.
Later in the afternoon, hopefully after a nap, we head to my in-laws’ house for the rest of the day. More of the family comes over, but it’s more of an open house style gathering. At some point, whoever is still around sits down to a pretty simple meal of soup and ham sandwiches. I bring my favorite Christmas cookies, these Butterball Cookies. Can’t have Christmas without them!
Holiday Recipes
Here are our favorite holiday recipes. Each of these makes an appearance every year!
- Freeze & Bake Lasagna
- Pull-Apart Garlic-Parmesan Bread
- Homemade Pumpkin Pie
- Easy Homemade Whipped Cream
- Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole
- Quick & Easy Vegetable Soup
- Slow Cooker Loaded Potato Soup
- Slow Cooker Holiday-Spiced Ham
- Grilled Ham & Swiss Sandwiches
- Broccoli with Cheese Sauce
- Butterball Cookies
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Must-Have Kitchen Tools
In order to make these great recipes, there are a few things that I just can’t live without in my kitchen.
- 6-quart slow cooker
- Kitchen Aid stand mixer
- 10-inch Calphalon skillet
- Cookie sheets
- Food processor
- Casserole Crock-Pot
- Calphalon soup pot
What are your favorite holiday traditions and recipes?
Enjoy!
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3 More Recipes to Try
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Thanks for sharing your holiday traditions with us! I would love to hear what our animals have to say at midnight lol. Thanks for sharing on Homestead Blog Hop!
I’m going to try to finish last-minute Christmas wrapping in time to sneak out to the barn this year! 😉