Many of us have special traditions that we look forward to doing each holiday season. Whether it is playing board games with your family or a midnight car ride to see the lights, these traditions is what makes the season so special and full of joy. I can’t tell you how excited I am that it is almost Christmas! I love everything about this season and as a family we have many traditions.

On Christmas Eve my entire family gathers at my grandmothers house and we have our traditional chicken and rice with a side salad dinner every year. After dinner we all get in our cars and head over to evening service at our church. My favorite part about the service is when they turn off all of the lights and with a candle in our hands, we sing Silent Night. After church, my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and I will go to my neighbor’s house for their annual Christmas Eve party. This is always so much fun! At night my dad will read us The Polar Express. Now that my sister is married, I am the only one who gets to hear it! Well besides my mom of course. Christmas Eve always seemed so magical to me. So much joy, love and excitement! It is truly my favorite day of the year.

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2016— The Sweet 16….. how are we already here?! A part of me is ready and a part of me is not ready for time to keep moving on. What I am ready for is to get dolled up and sip champagne. To be honest I am not a fan of New Years Eve. I may have had one or two great evenings, one god-awful evening, and a bunch of “meh” ones. As much as I like the “idea” of NYE– the glitter, the champagne, the cocktail attire, all right up my alley– it still an evening that hasn’t always been the highlight of my year. Instead of heading to a huge party that cost way more than it should, I prefer to have an intimate party at a friend’s house with everyone I love—still dressed up and sipping on champagne of course 😉

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‘Tis the season for lots of gatherings and a lot of parties! I love the holiday season for many reasons and one of them is the opportunity to make yummy hor d’oeuvres or side dishes. I enjoy cooking and baking all types of meals/food, but for some reason I LOVE to make hor d’oeuvres. I attended a few holiday parties last week and for two of them I made bacon wrapped goat cheese stuffed dates. I eat dates almost every day, I love cheese like it’s my first child, and bacon is a necessary ingredient to every meal, so it is only fitting that this simply to make hor d’oeuvre is my go-to to any party.

Ingredients

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