Tonight is the first Sabbath Feast of Advent, and coming hard on the heels of Thanksgiving, it is hard to think of cooking much. So we are having a spiral-cut ham which simply requires heating, and a large vat of homemade mac and cheese. We will light the Advent candle and I will give the children their Advent calendars (one per family, not one per child), and we will rejoice together at the coming of Christmas.
Today is also the twins’ second birthday, so it is a triple celebration: Sabbath, Advent, and birthday. This is another reason for the kid-friendly menu. Expect pictures of the cupcake extravaganza, and Happy Advent to you all!
0
0
That actually sounds really yummy :o)
I remembered your idea of the four Advent Sunday gifts from last year and I’m doing that for my children this year. Today they got tiny metallic christmas trees for their bedrooms with shatter-proof ornaments. Green tree with boy ornaments for my son and pink tree with girl ornaments for my two girls to share. They were a big hit!
I think this will be a fun way to punctuate the month.
I thought on your descriptions of how you celebrate Advent from last year and it was so inspiring, I changed up how we observe Advent and celebrate Christmas. I’m very thankful as we are even more excited about the season this year. The gifts are flowing over here, just on the other side of Advent during the 12 Days. I figure if it’s Christmas at church it ought to be Christmas at home too, so we are ramping up the celebrating. Thanks for your thoughts and your care for your own family. We had our traditional first Sunday of Advent breakfast today, a hash brown crusted ham quiche. Mmmmmmm.
Yeah! for Advent. Because of your example and ideas we too have changed the way we celebrate Christmas. This is our second year celebrating Advent. We give each of our children one gift for each Sunday of advent. We enjoyed spreading out the joy and our kids couldn’t wait for Sunday night to arrive. Thanks for the inspiration.
Which Advent calendar did you give your grandkids?
Thanks for posting this. I was reading your blog last night right after unpacking the ice chests from our Thanksgiving trip, and I hadn’t even realized Advent started this Sunday =) So thanks to your timely reminder we’re going to head out and pick up our tree tonight!
Guinever,
I found a lovely Advent calendar at a bookstore. It is a nativity scene, and not a sappy one.
I have heard you mention your mac and cheese several times on your blog in one of your books…will you share your recipe? Thanks.
Hi Jennifer,
I would be happy to give you the recipe. It’s embarrassingly simple, and it is my husband’s favorite because it’s the one his mom always made.
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup flour, heaping
4 c. milk
1 lb Velveeta, cut into cubes
salt and pepper to taste
3 1/2-4 cups dry macaroni noodles, cooked according to pkg directions
As soon as the water for the macaroni comes to a boil and you’ve added your macaroni, start your sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir. Add the milk and continue to stir until thickened. Add the Velveeta cubes and stir until melted. Drain the macaroni and put into an oven-safe dish. Pour the cheese sauce over. Add a few thin slices Velveeta on top. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and bubbly, about 20-30 minutes.